Electroplating apparatus.



L. POTTHOFF & G. W. SCHWEINSBERG.

ELECTROP'LATING APPARATUS.

PPUCATlON FILED MAY l2' l|917- 1,251,569. yPaenfad Jan. 1, 1918.

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L. POTTHOFF & G. W. SCHWEINSBERG.

ELECTROPLATING APPARATUS.

APPucAnoN man nvm, 1911.

Patented Jan. 1, 1918.

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LOUIS POTTHOFF, OEI. MONTCLAIR, NEW JERSEY, AND GEORGE W. SCHWEINSBERG, 0F BksOOKLYN, NEW YORK; SAID SCHVVEINSBEJEG` ASSIGNOR TO SAED PTIHOFF.

ELECTROPLATING APPARATUS.

Specication of Letters atent.

Patented Jan. 1, 1918.

Application led May 12, 1917. Serial No. l.

To all 'whom t may concern.'

Be it known that we, LOUIS Po'rTHoFF and GEORGE W. Scnwninssnnc, citizens of the United States, residingat Montclair, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, and Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, respectively, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Electroplating Apparatus, of which the following is a specication.

This invention relates to electroplating apparatus and particularly to a machine wherein the articles to be plated are moved through the electrolyte.

The object of the invention is to provide apparatus whereby the articles will be carried through the plating solution in a closed path returning the plated articles to the point of supply so that a single operator can place the work on the carrier and remove it when finished. In the usual electroplating tank the articles are carried therethrough in one direction and two operators arernecessary, one to place the articles on the conveyer, and the other to remove them at the opposite end of the tank. By this invention, one workman can both place the articles in the machine and attend to the removal of the plated product. A

A further object of the invention is to provide apparatus which will be simple in construction and adapted to handle a wide variety of work. In the machine of this invention a single conveyer carries the work through the plating solution. Along this conveyer the articles may be spaced in any desired manner to maintain the total plating area necessary for eiiicient action. The articles being plated may also be left on the conveyer any desired length ot time before removal so that the coating can be continued until a deposit of any desired thickness is built up. The apparatus will, therefore, readily adapt itself to a wide variety of work and maintain eiiicient plating conditions at all times.

In the accompanyng drawings,

Figure 1 is a lau vietv of electroplating apparatus embo ying this invention;

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional elevation, and

Fig. 3 is a crosssection on the line --l3 of Fig. 2.

ln the drawings, one speciic embodiment of the invention is shown wherein 1 is the tank containing the clectroplating solution to a height indicated approximately at line 2 of Fig. 3. Extending along the tank and Supported by brackets 3 adjustable in slots 13 of cross bars 12 are anode rods 4 on which are removably suspended anodes 5, the current being distributed to these anodes by conductor strips 14- from terminals 51. Between the anodes and above the surface ot the solution is the cathode rail 6 formed by bars 7 connected at both ends by semi-circular bars 8 and 9 to provide a continuous track of conducting material. This rail is connected to cathode terminal 52 and is supported by cross strips 10 suspended by brackets 11 from cross bars 12.

The articles to be plated are moved through the solution by a continuous carrier chain 15 comprising links 16 provided with hooks 17 from which the articles are suspended to hang immersed in the plating solution. The hooks 17 are slidably supported on the rail 6 and as they support and convey the articles they conduct the plating current from the articles to the rail so that the electroplating circuitis from one side of the supply line connected to anode bars 4 to anodes 5. through the articles to hooks 17 to track 6 connected to the other side "of the line. To retain the hooks 17 in place on track 6 their bases are provided with flanges 18 and 19 engaging respectively with the inner edges of track 6 and an upper rail 2() supported from brackets 29 of cross bars 12 by springs 30 resiliently pressing the hooks against track 6. The hook Shanks are bent around underneath the chain as shown in order to position the supporting ends of the hooks directly und-er the track 6 so that the centers of gravity of the supported articles or baskets will be in a vertical line with the track and will not tend to tip the hook support on @the track4 as by chain 34 between sprocket 35 and overhead sprocket 36. The rate 'of movement of the carrier chain may be made variable and is 'suiiiciently slow to permit the articles to be readily removed and replaced. The cross beam 27 supporting shaft 23 of idle sprocket 21 .is adjustable along the tank by screws 37 to take up slack in the chain 15.

In'order to keep the' plating solution constantly stirred, theshafts 23 and 24 may carry at their lower ends propeller blades 38. -Stirring beams 39 are also provided carried by brackets 40 pivoted at 41 to the sides of the tank. These beams are oscillated around pivots 4:1 by any suitable means as rod 42 attached Lat its upper end to a crank arm of the overhead counter shaft and at its lower forked ends 43 to the beams 39.

In operation, the workman after turning on the power to drive endless conveyer or carrier chain 8, stands at any part of the machine as at end 50, and hangs the articles or baskets carrying the articles on the hooks 17 .as-they pass. Normally the time of travel of the carrier is so adjusted with relation to the rate of plating that the articles will be just sufficiently plated when they have completed onel trip around the tank and returned to the point of supply. Here the operator removes the Iinished products and replaces them by other pieces to be plated. With many kinds of work a single operator can supply the carriers of several machines whereas in former tanks, where the conveyer moves only in one direction, an operator was necessary" at each end of the tank.

The spacing lof the articles or baskets along the endless conveyer may be varied to regulate the total surface plating at one time so that thesolution strength and the current may be used most eciently for each lot of articles. The length of the tank will be determined by the rate of movement of the carrier and the character and the depth of thedepositbut, since the articles maybe removed at any point of their 'trips around the tank, wide control of the coating is possible by varying the length of time the articles are permitted to remain in the solution. The articles being plated are always accessible for removal and inspection and may be readily replaced in position. The arrangement of the parts Aof this machine Latinas is such as to permit the construction to be simple, strong and durable, largely composed oi standard parts and easily accommodated to diiierent sizes of tanks.

it is apparent that the rate of travel of the carrier may be made variable, that the chain links may be provided with rollers to reduce frictional resistance, and that the size`and proportions of the parts of the apparatus may be varied widely to suit diiierent fplating conditions. The invention is not con ned to the specific embodiments shown herein, but is intended to cover such modifications thereof as come within the scope of the appended claims.

Havin vthus described our invention, we declare t at what we claim as new and desire to secure'by Letters Patent, is

1. In electroplating apparatus, the combinationwith a tank for containing the electrolyte, of. an endless linked chain adapted to convey the articles to beplated in a closed path in said tank, asingle rail track for supporting said chain and slidingly fitted to the links thereof, and hook members carried by the links of said chain and adapted to support the articles to be plated clear of said track.

2. n electroplating apparatus, the combination with a tank for the electrolyte, of an endless linked chain adapted to convey the articles to be plated through said tank, a track for supporting said chain and slidingly fitted to the links thereof, hook members carried by the links of said chain and adapted to support the articles to be plated clear of said track, and resilient guides for yieldingly pressing the links of said chain against said track.

3. in electroplating apparatus, the combination with a tank for the electrolyte, of an endless conveyer moving the articles through said electrolyte and comprising links having track supporting said conveyer and shdi ingly iitted to horizontal and vertical bearing surfaces of said links, a guide strip engaging said links and retaming them in place on said track, and article supporting members carried by said conveyer.

4;. in an electroplating apparatus, the combination with a tank for the electrolyte, of a movable conveyer for suspending the articles to be lated in said electrolyte and moving them 1n series through said tank, a series of anodes in said tank parallel to the line of movement of said articles, agitating means for the electrolyte comprising a longitudinal, pivoted bar member near the bottom of said tank and substantially parallel to said anodes, and means for vertically loscillating said bar back and forth beneath the anode surfaces to cause movement of the electrolyte between said articles and said 39 tical line below seid track.

6. En electropleting eb paretus, the comiwith a cathode track, a conveyer for moving the articles along said track, and article supporting hooks on said conveyer renteriiigly bent back underneath said track and held against pivotal movement in a plane normal te said track.

LOUS POTTHOFF. GEORGE W. SCHWEXNSBERG. 

